Our First Stop Is Kitapilimwa

Today we made our first SACCOS visit.  With the rains and the poor condition of many of the roads we started with one of the nearer locations. 

Kitapilimwa is one of the Iringa Hope SACCOS.  It was organized two years ago – first as a “group,” a lower level organization, and then upgraded to a SACCOS (Savings and Credit Cooperative Society).  The group started with 37 members – it now has 41 full members and 3 who are working on becoming full members.  This SACCOS is unusual in that the majority of the members are men (21 out of the 41).  At most locations the women outnumber the men.

Kitapilimwa is a 30-40 minute drive west of Iringa on rutted dirt roads.  The road seems to be worse than last year – probably due to the rains.  As we travel along we notice that while the crops are not bad, many of them are showing signs of too much water.

While the members gathered we spent a little time looking at the numbers with the Treasurer.  Last year this SACCOS made 35 loans to the members (an average loan was for $160).  All of the loans were paid on time and in full.  This year they were able to borrow funds from Iringa Hope so the SACCOS made 40 loans with an average loan value of $345.  All of the loans here were made for farming and were 6 to 7 months in duration.  (They asked if it was OK if they went to 8 months so they had more time to sell their crops and we said that it was their decision, after all it is their SACCOS as long as they stay within the legal limit of 12 months).

The treasurer was happy to report that he was able to triple his income from his loan.  He borrowed 400,000 TZS (about $200) and after paying off the loan and all of his bills he earned 1,250,000 TZS more than he had last year.  This meant he went from earning 620,000 TZS to 1,850,000 TZS or about $900.  This is the most that he has ever made. 

We checked the church financial records to see how donations to this preaching point were going, and were told us that this year the offerings had tripled over the previous year.  The treasurer credited the higher incomes of the SACCOS members for the increase in church offerings.  The treasurer went on to add that before the SACCOS started here they used to argue over whose children got a scholarship.  “Now,” he proudly told us, “all of the SACCOS members send their children to school themselves!”

When we met with the members we first introduced ourselves and talked a little about Iringa Hope.  Then Itiweni gave a talk about the importance of buying shares in the SACCOS.  This SACCOS has been doing very well selling shares.  The members here have bought an average of 9 shares each at 5,000 TZS.  This has raised 1,800,000 TZS (about $900) in capital.  They are planning on having all members buy 50 shares over the next 5 years.  Together with an increase in membership to 80 they are hoping to raise $8,000; an ambitious goal among a group who used to have an average family income of $300/year before they became SACCOS members.

After the meeting we talked with two of the members who have done especially well this past year.  The first one was Arafat Chengula, 31 and vice chairman of this SACCOS.  Arafat has been a member here since this location started 2 years ago.  During that time he has taken out 3 loans – one for 9 months, one for 3 months, and one for 6 months.  He has used his loans for his tomato and maize crops.  Arafat farms 11 acres and now employs 6 laborers to work on his farm.  He hires them for 4 months paying them 250,000 TZS plus room and board.  In the “off season”, he and his laborers go to Morogoro to work on a 10 acre farm that he rents there. 

This year Arafat borrowed $950 from Iringa Hope.  He used this to plant his corn and tomatoes.  Right now his tomatoes are “not too bad” while the corn is “still good” so if the rains stop he will be OK.  He thinks that after paying all his bills and repaying his loan he will earn $3,800 this year.  He impressed us as a very hard working man and we look forward to following his progress in the next few years.

Our second interview was with Mary Sanga, a 50 year old proud grandma.  Today she had her infant granddaughter with her.  Many young children here are afraid of us wazungus, and this child was even afraid of Itiweni.  “I guess I am a wazungu today,” she joked.

Mary has also been a member of this SACCOS since it began.  She has taken out 2 loans to use on the 10 acres that she farms.  She owns 6 acres and rents the remainder.  An acre of land here rents for 30,000 ($15) Tsh per planting season.  This year she planted 2 acres of tomatoes and 8 acres of corn.  Last year she borrowed $500 for her farm.  After selling her crop and paying all of her bills, repaying her loan, and paying her two laborers she earned $1,650 – a record for her and her family.  She combined her profit with her husband’s earnings (he is also a farmer and rents the acres that he farms), and together they bought a milling machine.

Mary told us that recently electricity had come to Kitapalimwa.  This meant that they could now use an electric motor to run their milling machine.  With ugali being a main dish here there is a big demand for ground maize flour.  Up to now this has been supplied by a diesel engine driven grinder.  The diesel grinder costs 2,000 TZS (about $1) per bag to mill the maize.  With an electric motor driven grinder the quality of the ground maize goes up while the cost drops by a factor of 4 or 5. Mary told us that she and her husband bought this mill in January and mill maize for $1 per bag.  They have already have recovered half the cost of their mill.

We have been mentioning the constant rain that is taking place this year.  The rain has been so hard for so long that some of the buildings have started to collapse.  As we were looking at Mary’s mill we noticed a building that looked like it was sagging.  It turned out that that building was in the early stages of falling apart from the rains.  The SACCOS Treasurer then showed us a house that had recently collapsed during a night time rain when the family was sleeping.  Luckily the family all got out OK, but their bikes, sewing machine, and other possessions were not so lucky.  The Treasurer went on to tell us that after the house collapsed the SACCOS members had gotten together and helped the family build a new home.  It was small, but it was built with bricks and concrete and should stand up.

We left the village and headed for Iringa.  We hope that the rains stop soon!

These children remembered Tom from last year and came running to see him.  They like the candy he brings!

Sandy had to say "Hi" to the children who were playing ball in this classroom.

We went over to meet with the members.

After the meeting Sandy talked with Arafat Chengula, the vice chairman.

Since joining the SACCOS Arafat has expanded his farm and now employs 6 laborers.

Mary Sanga came to the meeting with one of her grandchildren.  Her grandchild was afraid of us wazungus as well as Itiweni.  Itiweni decided she must be a wazungu today.

Mary and her husband have earned enough from their loans to buy this milling machine.  They are now the preferred source of ugali flour in the village.  They will probably need to hire some help soon.

While visiting Mary we noticed this building that was starting to collapse from the rains.

Not long ago this building collapsed at night during a rainfall.  Luckily the family were not hurt, but their bicycles, sewing machine, and other possessions were not so lucky.  If it does not stop raining soon there will be other buildings that collapse here as well.